“Those from among you shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations…”  (Isaiah 58:12)

In today’s economic battle there is a fight to keep essentials going for most rural communities.  At the end of this school year, hundreds of people will loose their jobs in Oklahoma and scores of small schools will be forced to close their doors in the near future.  This builds an image of a growing loss of core essentials in our rural communities that need to be dealt with.

The statement has been made over and over in my life time, “If a community looses its school the community will be lost”.   I am sure that most of us in small town USA would agree with that statement, or we have even experienced this essential loss in our community.  However, I see a great opportunity for the church to rise up and do something significant in a place where essentials have been lost.  I believe that if we can look a little harder and expand our ability to dream, we will see old waste places rebuilt. This will cause key essentials to be restored in rural areas.

Faith Center Fellowship in Meno, Oklahoma has embraced Isaiah 58 and has rebuilt an abandoned school facility.  The Faith Center campus was once thought to be an abandoned place.  Meno, is thought to be a town of no significance. This place would cause most to scratch their head and say, “Why would you build a church here?”   This campus sets in a community of 189 people.  Today, this 14 acre and 28,000 square feet facility has been totally remodeled and houses ministry that affects over 300 lives every week.  

This regional impact has brought life giving ministry into 18 different communities, 12 different school campuses and draws people up to 80 miles every week.  Approximately 46 % of regular Faith Center attendance is under the age of 18.  This is truly raising up the foundations of generations.  

At Faith Center we live big and are not afraid to think about the small.  There are too many rural areas of this great nation that need life giving, generational impacting churches. Here are just a few non negotiable principles that keep Faith Center on its course: 

1. We compel people to come by the love of Christ.  It is not what we do that makes the difference, but who we reflect that has the big splash.  We are serious about people.  The relevant issues for people in our region help build a road map for creativity of communication, provision for needs, and discipleship.  When we look beyond the walls of the church and see needs, we simply respond.  There is nothing so sacred at Faith Center that it cannot be changed to enable us to be compelling to our region.  We do what is necessary to be compelling to others in our region.


2. Possessing elements of excellence.  Excellence is in the eye of the beholder.  Some can look at the farm equipment auction across the road from Faith Center and see excellent machinery while others simply see junk.  Those compelled to come must see excellence.  From the children’s ministry all the way through our adult care ministries it must be clean, culturally relevant, possessing excellence.   Now with that said:  “Everything is also a work in progress”.  That is why we cannot get discouraged if an area is not at the level of excellence we desire.  As long as an area that is in the process of growing and expanding has elements of excellence then it can be impacting.  If they see excellence, they will desire to be a part of it.


3. God Kind of Faith.  When we hear and see a project of ministry that is from God we run with it.  We tackle the big things when the natural would say to us there is no way to pull it off.  If it is a mission project that is way beyond us but has the stamp of God on it, we go for it.  If it is an outreach that is going to require more people than what we have, we go for it.  If it will reach people, we believe God and then stretch ourselves toward the impossible.  “Without faith it is impossible to please God!”  We serve the God of the impossible!

This year Faith Center will celebrate 20 years as a church in a small rural area.  God has been so Faithful!   Every week we see decisions made for Christ and people ministered to.  If it comes to just 1 decision being made we rejoice like it was 100 decisions.  As you take the time to look around your community, isn’t it worth it to go after just one and then watch one turn into hundreds?   Yes it is! 

Partner with God to rebuild in places that have lost the essentials to their community.  Become essential, become noticed as a life giving transformational church.   We should never let our location allow us to think that God could not rebuild it and bless it.  He has done it for Meno, Oklahoma and I believe He can do it for you.